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Neighborhood Report

In tune and in step with the ultimate nanny

There's no shushing in the theater when viewers take part in an interactive showing of Mary Poppins.

By JONNELLE MARTE
Published July 28, 2006

[Times photo: Melissa Lyttle]

Anne Laurence Klein, 5, of St. Petersburg is measured by Mary Poppins, also known as Tampa Theatre’s community relations director Tara Schroeder, while waiting in line for the sing-along. The show ends Sunday.Go to photo gallery with audio

The boys sported smudges on their faces, and the girls wore straw hats and shawls. They fidgeted in their seats at the Tampa Theatre in anticipation of bringing a classic film to life.

About 140 people, some of them in costume, came out to the theater's first showing of the Mary Poppins Sing-Along on July 20.

The theater is showing the film through Sunday as part of its summer classic movie series.

Tara Schroeder, the theater's community relations manager, dressed as Mary Poppins and welcomed the crowd. About 1,960 people attended the first five shows, she said.

Boys and girls dressed as chimney sweepers and Jane Banks paraded across the stage in the historic theater as the Mighty Wurlitzer organ blared prior to the movie.

Then the Wurlitzer descended into the ground, the curtains swung open and the film began.

The opening credits sent a wave of nostalgia across the room. When Mary Poppins glided in from the sky, parrot umbrella in the air, the audience greeted her with a round of applause.

Then they sang, almost every song. Audience members received a bag of props at the door containing whistles and noisemakers, which they sounded every time Admiral Boom appeared on screen.

The Mary Poppins Sing-Along continues at 7:30 tonight, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Tampa Theatre, 711 N Franklin St. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for seniors, students and military personnel. Call 813 274-8982.